The Mirandean Space Sword
by kuyaga
Summary: How did Haruka learn swordplay and how did the space sword get to Uranus? Meet Kyoshi, teacher, student, and former heir to the space sword...
1. Prologue

Hello. I felt like writing this, so I am.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sailor Moon characters or ideas or settings.  
  
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People aren't born with random skills, like sewing, or mathematics. Or, in this case, swordplay... This is the story of the Uranus Space Sword, whose it is, and how it's current owner got it.  
  
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On a Mirandean farm on the outskirts of a small village, there is a little girl who will get up probably in about twenty minutes. Her father is a farmer, swordsman, and blacksmith all rolled into one. Well, you would think that he wouldn't want that talent to end just with him, so he would teach his daughter to be a farmer, blacksmith, and swordswoman. But he won't do that. On the Uranian moon called Sycorax, there is the Uranian royal palace, and royal cities, who rule all of the Uranian moons. Women aren't blacksmiths, or can learn the way of the sword. They can be farmers though, if they wish. This day, the father of this household will begin to teach his little daughter the way of the sword, therefore breaking the law. Does he care about the sexist laws? No, he thinks that whoever can learn whatever they want. The prince has learned to sew and mend, so why can't the queen learn a simple parry and thrust? It is because that is the custom of Uranus, how it has always been, and how it might always be.  
  
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Please tell me what I can do better.  
  
TTFN.  
  
kuyaga 


	2. The Job

Hello. I felt like writing this, so I am.  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
I want to thank my reviewers for reviewing, and I want them to tell me if they don't like this new style of writing. This chapter and other chapters will be much longer than the prologue. Finally, for those who haven't figured it out yet, Miranda and Sycorax are two of Uranus' moons.  
  
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"Keep your knees bent! Feet in line!" yells Satu Kyoshi's father, Washi. He is teaching her to fence, with a broom. "Lunge! Flank cut! Parry!" he yells out commands almost faster than she can follow them. Kyoshi is a rather tall girl, who is remarkably plain. "Time for school!" calls Kyoshi's mother, Yori, out the open window. "You don't want to be late!" Kyoshi picks up her knapsack and begins walking to school. It is only about a mile, and she can walk fast. Most children ride horses, or those who have them, but Washi wants his daughter in good shape for fencing.  
  
"Bye Ma, bye Dad!" A simple life for a teenage girl on Miranda. Of course, the peace must end. There has to be some substance to this story. A piece of paper comes flying down the road in the wind, and flaps onto Kyoshi's face. She glances at it, and grins. The palace on Sycorax wanted a swordsman to teach the princess! It looks like they thought it would take quite a long time to find a good one. The little girl wouldn't need anyone for another two years. Kyoshi stuffs the flier in her pocket, planning to show it to her father.  
  
"Hey, 'Yoshi! Over here!" shouts her friend Marina, as she nears the schoolhouse. "Did you hear about the news? They want someone to teach the princess how to fence! Your dad could do it! That would be so neat."  
  
"Yeah, I hope he'll agree. I got one of the fliers today. He probably won't do it though. He's doing fine here, and there's no one else to be the blacksmith. Plus he would worry about me'n Ma all alone."  
  
"Too true." The pair walk into the schoolhouse and settle down into their seats.  
  
"Settle down class, settle down." primly says the teacher, Ms. Whesley. "Today we will be doing the geography of Ariel. Please open your textbooks to page forty-two."  
  
When Kyoshi comes home with Marina, they will feed the cows, sheep, and dogs. And here they come now. "Samira thinks her father will apply for the job. But your dad could easily beat hers in a bout." says Marina thoughtfully. "I do hope that he'll at least try out."  
  
"He probably won't though. Just like I said. I wish I could go do it, but they wouldn't accept my application or anything. Stupid, sexist, laws."  
  
"You're going to be eighteen in two years, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes, so what?"  
  
"My brother's named Kyoshi, right?"  
  
"What's that to this? He doesn't do swordplay, and he's ten!"  
  
"Think about it. Kyoshi is a boy's name and a girl's name. You're going to be eighteen in two years. You do swordplay. You want to go. We live in an unrecognizable little village. A little slow on the uptake there, aren't you?" By now, Kyoshi's eyes have gone round.  
  
"I can pretend I'm a boy. And go teach the princess to fence. You're a genius." she said entirely in a dreamlike state. And then, "Oh."  
  
"Think you could do it? I'm sure your parents wouldn't approve, but I can convince them." Marina pinches Kyoshi on the arm. "There. You aren't dreaming. I'll pinch you again when your dad says yes. Agreed?" Marina spits on her palm and sticks her hand forward. Kyoshi does the same, and they shake.  
  
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So people, tell me what you think and how to make it better.  
  
TTFN  
  
kuyaga 


	3. going

Hello! In two days spring break ends, so I'll get a lot less time on the computer. Don't expect too much of me.  
  
Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
"I can't believe this! You're crazy, you're daft, you're a genius!" Kyoshi praised Marina. She flops onto her bed like a giant rag doll. "In two years I'm going to Sycorax. I can't believe this. Wow." Marina pinches Kyoshi. "Calm down. Remember, in TWO YEARS you will go to Sycorax. Not tomorrow."  
  
"But eventually it will be tomorrow. And then I'll be packing. And if it were tomorrow today, then I wouldn't be ready. I'm not good enough yet. Would you like to practice with me?"  
  
"Um. Why not? I don't have anything better to do." Marina follows Kyoshi as she walks outside with her broom. Kyoshi begins to practice her drills. Eventually, this becomes a routine- Marina comes over to Kyoshi's house, and watches while Kyoshi drills and practices the new moves her father has taught her that morning.  
  
One year later, that same thing is happening. Kyoshi's straight brown hair is a little more than halfway down her back, and Marina is reading a book on Sycorax. She glances up, and says, "Back straight when you lunge." Today will be different though. Today Washi will have finished Kyoshi's first sword. Washi walks out to Kyoshi, and says "Give me the broom." She, of course, complies, and he leans it against the wall of the house. Washi takes a long, thin package out from behind his back. "A very belated birthday present. Enjoy." Kyoshi rips through the brown paper, to see a long, magnificent sword. (To clarify, Kyoshi's birthday was two months before this.) Kyoshi gasps and stares at the sword. "It's beautiful." She murmurs before hugging her father.  
  
"What shall you call her?" Washi asks, smiling.  
  
"Skystream." She says to the blue metal of the hilt. 'Sky metal' it is called.  
  
"The princess will have the best teacher in the Uranian system." Says Marina happily. "I got a hold of one of the application forms from the transport station. Fill it out." Kyoshi runs inside to get a pen, and grins as she answers all of the questions. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, and for the billionth time, thank you."  
  
Yet another year passes. Kyoshi is packing, and saying goodbye to her friends and her mother and father. "I'll write to you until there is absolutely nothing to write about. And you had better write back." She says to Marina. "I'm going to miss you so much! This has all gone by so fast.." Kyoshi gives Marina another hug. "Now help me pack."  
  
My muse is still vacationing in Majorca, and will be leaving for Albania soon, so I'm not going to be writing much.  
  
Yours truly,  
  
kuyaga 


	4. First Screenings

Hello! I'm writing another chapter! Long time no write eh?

Disclaimer: same as usual

At the transportation station, Kyoshi waits in line at the pod. Her suitcases were dropped off at a luggage spot, and left five minutes ago. Kyoshi comes up to the front of the line and hands the collector her ticket. She steps into the pod, and leaves.

After the flight, Kyoshi stares around in wonder and awe. The transport pod landed in a landing circle on the roof of a tall building. The huge city surrounding it housed the Royal Family of Uranus, and a large number of citizens in the New City alone (the capital used to be a few miles east of the new one. It had grown old, rat infested, and there was an inn there where every thief on Sycorax apparently went to once a year, but the Royal Guard had never found it. Having a thief center in the Capital of all Uranus simply would not do. Kyoshi picks up her luggage and glances at her schedule, then at the huge clock tower a few blocks away from her. She has half an hour to get to the first screenings. She dashes off to put her luggage in a reserved room at a large inn.

After a long walk and a short bus ride, Kyoshi makes it to the palace. Following directions from a guard (who has verified her identification), she heads up to the third floor training room, which has a polished wood floor, a bit too slippery for swordplay. Now, according to the clock tower (which is now chiming), it is one o'clock, the time for the screenings. Then an authoritative voice calls, "Will everyone here for the fencing masters' tournament please get in a line, and step forward when we call your name. Adli, Moeshe…" Eventually everyone's name is called, and everyone steps forward. Some are eliminated instantly, because their form said that they were too young. Soon, around 200 people are standing in the third floor training room. Most are tall, muscular, and the older ones are almost all scarred. "Everyone whose last names begin with the letters A through L, please see our physicians today. They will also give you the uniforms you will fence in, in one week's time. They are on the fourth floor, rooms 1, 4, 9, and 13. Everyone whose last names begin with M through Z, please come tomorrow between the hours of 9:00 am, and 9:00 pm. Thank you, that is all."

Kyoshi's mind instantly whirls in worried thought. 'What if the physicians make me take off my shirt? Or anything? Or maybe they'll ask me questions that only a man would know the answer to… They'll know I'm a woman for sure… Or, as Malina would say, "Nothing is for sure, unless it has already happened." Maybe it will all be alright. Maybe I'll just lose in a bout, and I won't go away in too much shame. Or maybe I'll get the job, and just be secretive. Maybe I'll say that Malina's my sweetheart, and teach the princess, and go home in many years, and only go back for tournaments… Too many maybes and what ifs, and ors. "Nothing is for sure, unless it has already happened." Nothing is for sure…'

Kyoshi walks back to the inn thinking these thoughts. She falls asleep, convincing herself that she will do fine, and that she will make her father proud…

That chapter wasn't much longer than my others. Oh well. At least I got her to Sycorax. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong, because I know there's got to be something.

Yours truly,

kuyaga


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